While I have heard spainish music while in Spain, I’ve been surprised by how much american music I’ve been hearing. And not just any american music: music that was popular when I was in middle school is what’s on the radio. There’s nothing like sitting in a café in Spain eating spanish food, and hearing It’s Too Late to Apologize floating in the background. It’s a little sureal, a little hilarious, and also feels a little wrong.

But that example is no where near my weirdest experiment.

Donnie, a guy I’ve been traveling with, and I stopped at an albergue/café/bar at 10 to get some food, as the breakfast typically available is not enough to carry you the 10 or so kilometers until lunch. We got there before the bread had finished baking, and the whole place generally had the air of a place that was just waking up and beginning to stretch.

Then some music got turned on. I didn’t recognise the first song, but it was definitly an 80s rock ballad. A couple of hungarian pilgrims we had eaten dinner with the night before arrived and sat down at the same table as us. One of the. Had his knee all wrapped up, and had done it wrong, so I offered to wrap it for him.

As I was beginning to wrap it, Eye of the Tiger came on.

I wonder what it is like to have someone who you barely know, who you barely speak the same language as, wrapping your knee while singing along to Eye of the Tiger.